As Fernanda (Rooney Mara) enters her senior year at Tanner Hall—a sheltered boarding school in New England—she is faced with unexpected changes in her group of friends when a childhood acquaintance, the charismatic yet manipulative trouble-maker Victoria (Georgia King), appears. Shy and studious, Fernanda is usually the voice of reason among her friends—adventurous and sexy Kate (Brie Larson) and tomboy Lucasta (Amy Ferguson). Jealous of Fernanda's exciting relationship, Victoria begins to sabotage Fernanda's plans and plots to publicly humiliate her.